Pranab's Maoists remark shocks BJP

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Sunday retaliated to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s remark that the opposition should join the Maoists if it had no faith in democracy, saying it was the government which had rendered parliamentary institutions redundant.

“I am shocked to read the statement of Pranab ‘da’ who happens to be Leader of the House in Lok Sabha. Does the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) amount to not having faith in Parliamentary democracy and the Constitution ,” Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj asked in a statement here.

The verbal feud comes just a month ahead of the budget session of parliament. Mukherjee had made the comment at a rally in Siliguri in Left-ruled West Bengal, where elections are due this summer. The CPM and CPI appear to be in a dilemma over their strategy in Parliament, which was stalled all through the monsoon session , with the entire Opposition insisting on a JPC probe into the 2G scam.

The indications from the BJP are that it has no plans to give up the demand during the budget session. “The truth is that government has more faith in the courts and the CBI. It is the government that is making the parliamentary institutions redundant ,” Sushma Swaraj said.

The CPI, meanwhile, is blowing hot and cold on the demand for a JPC. “While not withdrawing the demand of JPC, while fighting for a JPC to find out the multidimensional loot, I think Parliament should be allowed to discuss not only JPC but also other important people’s issues,” CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta said.